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Google brings Automated Call Extensions to mobile ads

Welcome to Tech Treats, our weekly feature where we provide our clients with the latest news on all things digital marketing. From current trends and innovations, to fresh tips on getting the most out of your marketing spend, we’ll ensure you’re always kept in the loop!

Google brings Automated Call Extensions to mobile ads

Last week, we reported that Google will soon start showing local-specific phone numbers in text ads.

Due to be implemented on 19th January, 2017, this update would mean that a company’s local phone number (as listed on their Google My Business account) would appear in text ads when shown to local searchers, despite having another number set-up in a Call Extension.

In a similar vein, Google have also notified users that Call Extensions will be automatically generated and included in mobile ads from 6th February, 2017. This means that if you have a phone number listed on the landing page for your advert, this will be pulled automatically from the page and added to the Call Extension.

Unsure if you want to use this feature? Don’t worry- you can switch off Automated Call Extensions in the Ad extensions tab. Just click on “View: Automated extensions report”, then “Automated extension options (advanced)” further down the page.

From there, you’ll be able to un-select the option for Automatic Call Extensions. However, we’d advise doing this before the update is implemented.

The TJM take: Although Call Extensions should be always utilised where possible (and this new feature can make setting up them up far quicker), we’d recommend checking all of your ads and landing pages before the update gets rolled out next month.

If a landing page has multiple numbers (or just an incorrect one), you could miss out on valuable leads. If in doubt, we’d suggest switching off Automatic Call Extensions in the meantime.